Pres. Trump called for increasing legal immigration during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. It's at least the second time since his State of the Union speech to Congress last week that the President has called for more immigration.
"Speaking of jobs, we have to have more people coming into our country," Pres. Trump said. "We want to have people come into our country, but we want to have them come in through a merit system, and we want to have them come in legally. And that’s going to be happening."
Pres. Trump first made the call for more legal immigration during the State of the Union last week, saying he wanted immigration in the "largest numbers ever." But earlier in his term, he endorsed legislation introduced by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.), the RAISE Act, that would reduce legal immigration by up to 40% by ending chain migration and the visa lottery. Pres. Trump told reporters last week that his position does represent a shift in policy for his Administration.
During yesterday's cabinet meeting, he added:
"More people working today in the United States than at any time in the history of our country. We’re getting very close to 160 million people. And we’ve never had anything like that, which tells you that we have to have people come into our country -- great people... but we want them to be productive, and they -- we want people that are going to love our country and help our country."
For more, see the Wall Street Journal.
